Fonds consists of three sous-fonds: M573 / V797 / S60.
M573 consists of three series, 26 cm of textual records, 1924-2005. Series I: Personal Papers, 19 cm, ca.1930-2005 (including notebooks and drafts of various talks that Jean delivered and records related to her participation in the Trail Rider…
26 cm of textual records.-- 109 photographs (42 prints, 67 lantern slides). -- 2 sound recordings.
History / Biographical
Jean Alexandra Hembroff was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on April 5, 1908 to Walter B. Hembroff (d. 1945) and Sarah Jane Hembroff (d.1952). Jean was accepted to the MacPhail School of Music and Dramatic Art at the University of Minnesota, from which she graduated in 1927. She returned to Winnipeg to begin teaching courses in speech arts and drama. To establish herself, she first volunteered as the "story lady" at the Williams Avenue Public Library and quickly became known as an excellent speaker sought by many different organizations. She taught at St. Mary's Academy and the Evening Institute at the University of Manitoba, as well as offered private sessions. Many of her students used the skills they learned from Jean as they entered radio, television, politics, and business. Jean was also very active in organizing and adjucating Speech Arts festivals in Manitoba, often going to inaccessible places to give workshops. Her teaching, broadcasting, adjucating, coaching, and speaking career spanned more than 50 years.
Jean was hired by the Canadian Pacific Railway's promotions manager to give presentations and broadcast interviews across Canada and the United States. In 1937, Jean joined the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and participated in their summer trail ride in the same year. For that year's issue of the Trail Rider's Bulletin Jean wrote an article - and became the first woman to ever do so. In 1938, during her lecture titled "Trail Riding in the Rockies" on January 18, 1938 at the Royal Alexandra Hotel, Jean met John David (Jack) MacDonald. Jack and Jean were married on June 18, 1938, and the couple had one son, Bruce Walter James MacDonald (August 28, 1946-August 25, 2016).
Jean participated in several trail rides with the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and the Sky Line Trail, and produced articles reflecting her experiences. Jean loved to travel and visited places all around Canada and the United States, Borneo, Tangier, Montevideo, Stockholm, New Delhi, and Tonga. At the age of 102, Jean passed away on February 2, 2011 and is buried in Winnipeg.
Scope & Content
Fonds consists of three sous-fonds: M573 / V797 / S60.
M573 consists of three series, 26 cm of textual records, 1924-2005. Series I: Personal Papers, 19 cm, ca.1930-2005 (including notebooks and drafts of various talks that Jean delivered and records related to her participation in the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and the Sky Line Hikers of the Canadian Rockies, particularly 1937-1939). Series II: Correspondence and Newspaper Clippings, 4 cm, 1924-2000 (including correspondence with John Murray Gibbon, former students, and attendees at various talks, as well as newspaper articles that Jean wrote about various subjects and articles of her achievements). Series III: Collected Materials and Ephemera, 3 cm, ca.1930-1950 (including a variety of collected poems and ephemera, as well as a copy of The Beaver Magazine from 1940, for which Jean wrote an article titled "On the Trail of Sir George").
V797 consists of two series, 24.5 cm of visual records, ca.1928-1939. Series I: Photograph Prints, 3 cm, ca.1928-1939 (includes personal photographs of Jean and her family and friends as well as photographs of Jean and Jack's visit to Lake Louise in 1939). Series II: Lantern Slides, 21.5 cm, ca.1937-1939 (Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies official ride of 1937 to Mt. Assiniboine; Sky Line Hikers of the Canadian Rockies official ride of 1939 to Ptarmigan Valley and Skoki; collection of trail ride songs).
S60 consists of two sound recordings, 1 cm, 2004 and 2007 (Winnipeg at Christmas, narrated by Jean, broadcasted on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).
File consists of brochures, pamphlets and small guide books pertaining to ranches, accommodations, attractions, excursions and tour packages based in the Canadian Rockies.
File consists of brochures, pamphlets and small guide books pertaining to ranches, accommodations, attractions, excursions and tour packages based in the Canadian Rockies.
Notes
Items pertaining to the same companies have been kept together in one file
Files contain duplicates of some items
Horseback riding travel guide in M545/III/5 [1982] has attached note which is addressed to Joe Madaro
Summary of contents in files:
M545 / III / 3 :
Mount Robson Ranch
Homeplace Ranch
Lazy M. Ranch
Castle Mountain Ski Lodge and Hostel
Red Deer River Ranches
Rolyn Hills B&B
Skoki Lodge
Banff National Park attractions & Banff Lake Louise Tourism
The classic guidebook to cross country ski trails in Waterton, Banff, Kootenay, Yoho and Jasper National Parks as well as Mount Assiniboine and Mount Robson Provincial Parks and Kananaskis Country, now greatly expanded to includes ski trails in the front ranges of the Rockies, in the Crowsnest Pass and in the Columbia Valley. Jointly authored with Darren Farley.
This book also covers topics such as accommodation, regulations, weather and snow conditions.
Scope & Content
Series consists of research documents, published materials and maps used during the creation of the book Ski Trails in the Canadian Rockies.
Notes
Series consists of three sub-series:
M57 / VI / A: Research Files
The classic guidebook to cross country ski trails in Waterton, Banff, Kootenay, Yoho and Jasper National Parks as well as Mount Assiniboine and Mount Robson Provincial Parks and Kananaskis Country, now greatly expanded to includes ski trails in the front ranges of the Rockies, in the Crowsnest Pass and in the Columbia Valley. Jointly authored with Darren Farley.
This book also covers topics such as accommodation, regulations, weather and snow conditions.
Scope & Content
Series consists of 3 CD's with photo scans pertaining to the creation of Ski Trails of the Canadian Rockies.
Series consists of textual records pertaining to the creation and publication of Summits and Icefields; includes research documents, maps and other related material.
These are your dream books; “When the first snows fly in November, sit down in front of the fire and dream of endless powder slopes, dazzling icefields and wilderness cabins under northern lights.” Couloir Magazine called Summits and Icefields “The best guidebook yet published in North America.”
Now available in two volumes (The Canadian Rockies and The Columbia Mountains) these books are a skier's guide to Rogers Pass, the classic ski ascents of the Rockies, the backcountry lodges, the grand traverses and much, much more. They also contain a taste of the exciting ski history of these ranges.
Scope & Content
Series consists of textual records pertaining to the creation and publication of Summits and Icefields; includes research documents, maps and other related material.
These are your dream books; “When the first snows fly in November, sit down in front of the fire and dream of endless powder slopes, dazzling icefields and wilderness cabins under northern lights.” Couloir Magazine called Summits and Icefields “The best guidebook yet published in North America.”
Now available in two volumes (The Canadian Rockies and The Columbia Mountains) these books are a skier's guide to Rogers Pass, the classic ski ascents of the Rockies, the backcountry lodges, the grand traverses and much, much more. They also contain a taste of the exciting ski history of these ranges.
Scope & Content
Series consists of image scans pertaining to the creation of the book Summits and Icefields.